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Navy officials push for security clearance changes

Tuesday - 9/24/2013, 4:10am EDT

LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A week after an IT contractor gunned down 12 workers at the
Washington Navy Yard, Navy officials began moving to close gaps in the security
clearance process, recommending that all police reports involving an individual
must be included when a background check is done.

The Navy, in a report
released Monday, revealed that the shooter, Aaron Alexis, did not disclose a 2004
arrest or some financial problems when he filled out his application for a
security clearance when he joined the Navy as a reservist several years later. And
officials said the background report given to the Navy at the time, also failed to
reveal that he had shot out the tires of another person's car during a 2004
dispute in Seattle.

Instead, the report from the Office of Personnel
Management, said Aaron Alexis "deflated" the tires, and did not mention the use of
a gun.

Defense officials have acknowledged that a lot of red flags were
missed in Alexis' background, allowing him to maintain a secret security clearance
and have access to a secure Navy facility despite a string of behavioral problems
and brushes with the law. Over the past week, they have been struggling to
determine what might have been missed, and what changes could be made in order to
try and prevent similar violence in the future.

So far, however, the
detailed reviews only underscore how subjective the security checks can be and how
difficult it is to predict violent behavior based only on minor conduct issues
that could easily be overlooked.

A review of Alexis' nearly four-year Navy
career, ordered last week by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, revealed that the full
scope of the 2004 arrest was not included in the security clearance report.

According to a senior Navy official, the police report included information
about Alexis shooting out the tires of another man's car, after a recurring
dispute over parking. Alexis was arrested, charged with malicious mischief,
fingerprinted and spent the night in jail. But when he appeared in court the
charges were dismissed and he believed the incident was erased from his record.

The OPM report, provided to the Navy, left out the gun in its description
of the incident, saying that Alexis deflated the man's tires in retaliation for
the man putting an unknown substance in Alexis' gas tank. It was not clear Monday
who was at fault for the omission. Officials said they didn't know if the summary
provided to the Navy was compiled by OPM, or if it was put together by the company
that investigated Alexis for his clearance -- USIS -- and passed on to OPM.

The discrepancy, however, prompted Mabus to recommend to Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel that all police reports -- not just arrests -- be included in a
security check. He also recommended Monday that the Navy enhance its management of
sailor evaluations and fitness reports by assigning more senior officers to
oversee them.

Hagel has ordered two sweeping reviews of military security
and employee screening programs, and Mabus' recommendation will be considered as
part of those studies.

A senior Navy official said military officials only
became aware that a gun was used in the tire incident when they went back through
all the records last week, after the Navy Yard shooting. The official was not
authorized to discuss the matter publicly by name so spoke on condition of
anonymity.

The tragedy has revealed a number of problems with the security
clearance system, including its focus on whether someone is a treason threat,
rather than a potential killer.

When a check of Alexis' fingerprints
disclosed the Seattle police incident, it triggered a follow-up interview for the
security clearance. An OPM memo about the interview included multiple questions
about debts he failed to pay and problems with collection agencies. In each case,
the memo noted that Alexis was having financial troubles, was arranging repayment
plans and only he and his mother knew of the debts.

"The subject does not
feel that knowledge of any of his financial issues could be used against him for
blackmail or coercion," the memo said.

The fact that Alexis did not disclose
the debts on his security form was dismissed in the memo, which noted that he
answered "no" to the questions because he was working on payment plans and thought
the issues would be resolved. He also answered "no" to questions about his police
record, including whether he had been arrested, charged, convicted or issued a
summons, citation or ticket to appear in court in a criminal proceeding.